Teaching on topics of war and peace
can be challenging under the best circumstances but even more so when students
are not given the tools to effectively engage with the curriculum. Educators
frequently look for better ways to discuss these complex and emotional topics
that will resonate with their students while still achieving important course
objectives. Audio podcasts provide one such avenue for effectively engaging
students. Audio components are not new to the classroom, but they are becoming
more common as their public counterparts—such as podcasts and internet radio
programs—have increased in popularity over the last decade. A recent push in
classrooms, therefore, is an effort to identify constructive ways to use
podcasts to help students interact with curriculum in a more personal way that
allows for a better understanding of the topics being taught.

In this article, the authors
discuss the development of an International Security course they designed that
utilizes podcasts in an interactive process of teaching, learning, and
evaluation. Rather than having their students access podcasts as the finished
product of someone else’s work, their educational focus is on the process of
creating a podcast: i.e., the programming design, the investigation and
interviewing of sources, and the construction of narratives around issues of
war and peace. The authors cite previous studies that point to the strong
learning benefits of podcasts when students engage in their production,
specifically benefits derived from the responsibility of delivering a product,
which “encourages a more attentive examination of its content and the
development of academic responsibility toward it.”

Perhaps even more importantly, the
authors also point to the educational value of podcasting’s ability to embody
and humanize the study of war and peace in ways the field’s more traditional
methods of teaching lack. A motivation for this study, and one of the authors’
criticisms of traditional International Relations teaching methods, is the way
in which many current methods render the study of peace and war “abstract and
disembodied.” University students often receive online reading lists that
provide “little incentive to visit a library or archive, conduct interviews,
collect different testimonies, or look for the concrete ways in which abstract
questions of peace and war, or international politics more broadly, are
manifest in people’s lives.” Developing podcasts, the authors believe, is a way
to address this criticism because the process encourages greater creativity
through the identification of and interaction with sources of information,
rather than allowing students to be “passive absorbers of knowledge” who feel
distanced from the material they are examining.

Their course was structured around
four different activities: lectures on peace, war, and security; reading and
debating on more specific themes (such as securitization, gender and
(in)security, terrorism, and others); workshop modules on listening and
developing a voice, multimedia analysis, and various technical components of
podcasting; and presentations from radio and podcasting producers and experts.
Throughout the process, there were also opportunities for peer and teacher
feedback sessions to “ensure a more interactive and reflexive learning
experience.” The students were then given the opportunity to choose their own subject
(related to peace and war), style of expression, and types of sources or
testimonies, as well as other creative elements of their podcast. Throughout
the process, teachers encouraged students to question what constitutes “proper”
academic practice when it comes to discussing peace, war, and violence, as well
as their political significance. The teachers would ask students, “Why do we
read or listen to some points of view over others?” And, “Why do we find
certain sources more credible or relevant than others?” These questions helped
the students develop their podcasts through critically examining what “sources,
voices, testimonies, or experiences to bring into their podcasts, why and how.”

Through this process, the authors
believe that the students “autonomously acquired theoretical and empirical
knowledge” relevant to their chosen topic and sources. Another interesting
observation from the course was the way podcasts helped the students reflect on
the “scriptedness” of politics that favors some voices, opinions, and views
over others. The field of International Relations and debates on issues of war
and peace, argue the authors, are especially susceptible to scripts that
encourage “binary-driven thinking” (friend/foe, north/south, good/evil, savior/victim)
instead of deeper reflection. While developing their podcasts, students had to
decide what scripts to employ and what scripts to “unscript” or “rescript”
through deeper analysis, reflection, or clarification. The authors conclude by
arguing that podcasts offer an important, alternative way of studying war and
peace: they provide students with a creative outlet to humanize the study of
peace and war that encourages the deconstruction of “black and white” binary
thinking.

Contemporary Relevance

In 2018, nearly half of Americans over the age of 12 listen to podcasts—a sharp rise from the 11% who used them in 2006.[1] This growth in podcast consumption reflects similar technology trends that have translated into the growing presence of tablets, computers, and “smart” devices in today’s classrooms—many of which have proven to be valuable resources to both teachers and students alike. However, new technologies do not necessarily translate into useful teaching aids or improve the learning experience of students. Introducing tools such as podcasts or other technology into the classroom should always be scrutinized and open for debate, but when new tools and techniques are found to be effective, they should be welcomed and encouraged. As our world becomes more integrated with the technology that surrounds us, it will become more important to harness tools that allow for creative ways to advance teaching methods and to help students address and comprehend complex topics.

Talking Points

Podcasts provide an engaging way to teach
complex topics related to war and peace.

Developing podcasts helps students humanize the
study of war and peace, as they contend with the concrete ways in which
conflicts manifest themselves in the lives of real human beings.

Developing podcasts related to war and peace
helps students identify and appreciate the various arguments about and points
of view on a conflict.

Developing podcasts helps students reflect on
the “scriptedness” of politics and criticize the “binary-driven thinking”
(black/white, friend/foe, north/south, good/evil, savior/victim) of politics
and international relations, as they must choose which scripts about war and
peace to adopt or reject in their own podcast narratives.

Practical Implications

Podcasts can be seen as a way to
formally accept technology into the classroom. Cell phones, computers, smart
devices, etc. are prohibited in many classrooms. However, denying students the
tools (or, some argue, vices) that are becoming more a part of our our everyday
life is becoming more and more difficult to justify. By integrating podcasts,
or other forms of technology, into classrooms, educators and students can begin
to construct norms of acceptable use of technology in the classroom. In doing
so, they will also be better equipped contrast acceptable norms with
distracting or inappropriate use of technology, which can simultaneously remove
negative stigma of technology and discourage its unofficial classroom use.

Because students are becoming increasingly familiar with the
underlying technology of podcasts, their use in the classroom can broaden
educational options in an accessible, nonthreatening way. Creating podcasts can
serve as a tool to help students reflect or elaborate on class discussions or
to record and share notes. Aside from the creation process, listening to
other’s podcasts offers benefits as well. Educators can record classes or
specific lectures to share with absent students, podcasts can provide access to
experts and voices that would otherwise be inaccessible, and educators and
universities can utilize podcasts to increase the reach and audience of their
material.

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Testimonials

Erica Chenoweth, Ph.D.

The field of peace science has long suffered from a needless disconnect between current scholarship and relevant practice. The Peace Science Digest serves as a vital bridge. By regularly communicating cutting-edge peace research to a general audience, this publication promises to advance contemporary practice of peace and nonviolent action. I don’t know of any other outlet that has developed such an efficient forum for distilling the key insights from the latest scholarly innovations for anyone who wants to know more about this crucial subject. I won’t miss an issue.

-Erica Chenoweth: Professor, Associate Dean for Research at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver

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Kelly Cambell

As a longtime peace activist, I’ve grown weary of the mainstream perception that peace is for dreamers. That’s why the Peace Science Digest is such as useful tool; it gives me easy access to the data and the science to make the case for peacebuilding and war prevention as both practical and possible. This is a wonderful new resource for all who seek peaceful solutions in the real world.

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We must welcome the expansion of peace awareness into any and every area of our lives, in most of which it must supplant the domination of war and violence long established there. The long-overdue and much appreciated Digest is filling an important niche in that peace invasion. No longer will anyone be able to deny that peace is a science that can be studied and practiced.

-Michael Nagler: Founder and President, Metta Center for Nonviolence

Aubrey Fox

The Peace Science Digest is the right approach to an ever-present challenge: how do you get cutting-edge peace research that is often hidden in hard-to-access academic journals into the hands of a broader audience? With its attractive on-line format, easy to digest graphics and useful short summaries, the Peace Science Digest is a critically important tool for anyone who cares about peace as well as a delight to read.

Joseph Bock, Ph.D.

How many times are we asked about the effectiveness of alternatives to violent conflict? Reading Peace Science Digest offers a quick read on some of the best research focused on that important question. It offers talking points and summarizes practical implications. Readers are provided with clear, accessible explanations of theories and key concepts. It is a valuable resource for policy-makers, activists and scholars. It is a major step in filling the gap between research findings and application.

-Joseph Bock: International Conflict Management Program Associate Professor of International Conflict Management, Kennesaw State University

Eric Stoner

The distillation of the latest academic studies offered by the Peace Science Digest is not only an invaluable time-saving resource for scholars and policymakers concerned with preventing the next war, but for journalists and organizers on the front lines, who can put their findings to good use as they struggle to hold the powerful accountable and to build a more just and peaceful world.

-Eric Stoner: Co-founder and Editor, Waging Nonviolence

Mark Freeman

The Peace Science Digest is a major contribution to the peace and security field. It makes complex issues more understandable, enabling professional outfits like ours to be more effective in our global work. The Digest underscores that preventing war is about more than good intentions or power; it is also about transferable knowledge and science.

Maria J. Stephan, Ph.D.

The Digest is smartly organized, engaging, and provides a nice synthesis of key research on conflict, war, and peace with practical and policy relevance. The journal’s emphasis on “contemporary relevance”, “talking points” and “practical implications” is a breath of fresh air for those of us trying to bridge the academic-policy-practitioner divides. Highly recommended reading.

-Maria J. Stephan: Senior Advisor, United States Institute of Peace

David Swanson

Peace Science Digest is an invaluable tool for advocates for peace, as much as for educators. In it one quickly finds the talking points needed to persuade others, and the research to back those points up.